Acts 9:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

Here we are trying to grow in Christ and comparing our spiritual growth with bodily growth. As we grow we suffer both physical and emotional pain in growth. Did you expect spiritual growth to be different?

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Here at the end of that section of 1 Corinthians 13 that describes how love behaves in us is this profound statement. If you are going to grow in Christ then the joy of childhood in the spirit must also grow and put away the childish naïveté and accept the responsibilities that come with growth in Christ.

When I came to Christ, as many do, it was to escape pain. The life I had left caused me pain, caused others pain, and coming to Christ was a great relief. The last thing I wanted was to suffer. I just wanted to be fat, dumb and happy. As a parent, I would never want that for my child, nor does God want that for us. God does not raise up pew potatoes.

Even before Christ went to the Cross He warned His disciples what they would be in for by following Him.

Matthew 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

Luke 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

It would be wrong of me not to follow His example and tell you exactly what you are getting yourself into by becoming a disciple of Christ.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Imagine if you will a little girl who has adorned herself in her mother’s wedding dress and high heels. The dress covers the shoes as it bunches on the floor. She stands at the mirror dreaming of the day she will someday wear this dress for herself.

Or perhaps it is the image of a young fellow standing in daddy’s shoes. “Those are some big shoes to fill!” One day he will grow to fill those shoes, perhaps even bigger shoes. Every father’s desire for his son is to be outdone. We want our children to grow and succeed.

As I began thinking about this devotional the term hand-me-down came to mind. If you have never worn hand-me-downs, bless you. If you are like me and came from a position of necessity, hand-me-downs were not seen as blessings. They were always too big. “Don’t worry you will grow into them.” Those words never comforted me.

These robes of righteousness are not seen with that same resentment but they are in fact spiritual hand-me-downs from the Cross of Christ. We do not look at it that way but the fact exists that without that moment in time we would never know righteousness.

Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

This cross I bear is my hand-me-down. I will grow into it.